Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: steve harris who wrote (256416)	10/20/2005 2:14:33 AM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1572682

"The Federal Emergency Management Agency's lack of planning, not the failures of state and local officials, was to blame for much of what went wrong with the government's response to Hurricane Katrina, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told member of Congress today." ************************************************ Chertoff Says FEMA's Lack of Planning to Blame By Mary Curtius, Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency's lack of planning, not the failures of state and local officials, was to blame for much of what went wrong with the government's response to Hurricane Katrina, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told member of Congress today. The assessment by the most senior administration official to answer legislators' questions since the hurricane struck in late August contrasted sharply with testimony offered earlier by former FEMA Director Michael Brown. Brown had blamed the "dysfunction" of Louisiana state and local officials for the problems that hobbled the relief effort. "From my own experience, I don't endorse those views," Chertoff said. He told lawmakers that he found the governors and mayors of the region to be responsive as the crisis unfolded. Chertoff spoke as Capitol Hill continued to wrestle with how to pay the massive costs of rebuilding the Gulf Coast, and as his agency was keeping an eye on Hurricane Wilma, which built into a Category 5 storm that threatened Cuba, the Yucatan Peninsula and Florida. The secretary, who took up his post in February, calmly defended his record during hours of often hostile questioning from a special panel investigating the government's handling of Katrina. He denied Brown's contention that FEMA was "emaciated" after it was folded into the massive Department of Homeland Security in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Brown had testified that once it was subsumed into the department, FEMA suffered budget cuts and a "brain drain" of experienced officials. Chertoff insisted that between 2001 and 2005, "FEMA's core funding increased from $349 million (annually) to $447 million," and its number of employees swelled from 2,057 to 2,445. "I would take issue with the idea that FEMA had been cut," he said. The sheer scope of the damage inflicted by Katrina overwhelmed FEMA and exposed underlying flaws in the structure and management of the agency, Chertoff said. The agency's problems stemmed from a failure to restructure and modernize itself, not from a lack of funding, he said. He also denied that there was a lack of urgency at the highest levels of the federal government as the hurricane approached the Louisiana coast. "I don't think there was a lack of a sense of urgency," Chertoff said. As urgent problems, he cited inadequate logistics and communications systems and the need to "replenish its ranks at the senior level with experienced staff." Chertoff said he was taking steps to "retool" the agency and that he was establishing emergency reconnaissance teams that could immediately move into disaster areas to assess the situation and prioritize relief efforts. Democrats and Republicans assailed Chertoff for working from home the weekend before the hurricane made landfall, for failing to travel to the region earlier, and for failing to question Brown more intently in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane about what he was doing to rescue people and deliver supplies of food and water to those stranded. The lawmakers also sharply questioned him about FEMA's system for awarding contracts, criticizing it for too often paying retail prices for goods and services and too seldom awarding contracts to local businesses struggling to survive. The harshest criticism came from Rep. Cynthia McKinley (D-Ga.). She asked Chertoff why he shouldn't be charged with negligent homicide for failing to rescue flood victims who died in nursing homes and hospitals when help failed to arrive for days after the levees broke and New Orleans flooded. The scenes of suffering he watched on television were "heart-wrenching," Chertoff said, and he added that he grew increasingly frustrated as the days passed after the levees broke and rescue operations seemed slow, disorganized and cumbersome. "There are many things that did not work well with the response," Chertoff said. He said that he had trusted Brown, whom he repeatedly referred to as his "battlefield commander," to handle operations on the ground and to build a unified command with state and local officials and with the Pentagon. Chertoff repeatedly reminded the committee that "I'm not a hurricane expert," and said he had left the details to FEMA's experienced staff.** Lawmakers from both parties expressed disbelief at some of Chertoff's testimony and castigated him for failing to take direct control earlier as it became apparent that thousands of people were left stranded for days in New Orleans after the levees broke. "We know very little about the role that you played," complained Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.). continued............ latimes.com